Category: Great Moments In Socialism

Elephant On The Riverbank

Cronies Protected Class The Arts 45 Comments

The Arts: A system in which taxpayers help rich people hang pictures for their friends

The revelation this spring that [Remai Modern] final cost tops $111 million, more than twice the original estimate from when it was first proposed, will resonate for most taxpayers, as will the $6 million a year in city funding.

But the art gallery’s worth should be measured beyond its price tag — its value to Saskatoon is more relevant.

Five years ago the gallery earned Saskatoon a spot in the New York Times’ top tourist destinations in the world. USA Today followed suit the following year by recommending its readers visit the Paris of the Prairies chiefly because of the gallery.

So you can argue all day that the money spent on building the art gallery will never be worth it, but you cannot reasonably claim that no value was derived from it in terms of recognition for the city.

The “cannot reasonably claim” value: two American travel writer mentions at the low, low entry price of $55,500,000.00 apiece.

And then, there’s the nepotism. And the fact that it’s ugly. And the millions to maintain it ain’t ever going away…

Get the hell out of Saskatoon while you still can, my friends.

From the comments: I guess nothing quite “says” Saskatoon like a good stack of double-wides.

Temporarily Unexpected

Great Moments In Socialism Shiny Pony 12 Comments

In today’s transitory news;

Concurrently, a growing number of financial experts are expressing their apprehensions regarding the potential impact of yet another rate hike on consumers. And their concerns are not unfounded. Let us examine the evidence.

Undoubtedly, food and housing constitute the fundamental necessities of life.

Pertinent data reveals that the cost of housing exerts a considerable influence on our grocery expenditures. Notably, despite prevailing inflation, the latest quarterly results from Empire/Sobeys/IGA indicate a $16 million decline in food sales compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

That’s right, $16 million. Similarly, Loblaw/Provigo experienced a mere 3.1% increase in food sales over the past year, despite inflation consistently exceeding 9% for the preceding 12 months. Metro witnessed a modest 5.8% rise in food sales at their stores during the last quarter.

Bloomberg: Canadians’ concern about debt, ability to pay bills reach all-time high (h/t David M)

Canadian “exceptionalism”

nannystate Tommy Douglas: Not Dead Enough 12 Comments

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Canada’s stubborn obsession with single payer health care is taking a massive toll on the budgets of governments and the health of Canadians, but that won’t stop Medicare’s supporters from continuing to insist that government payments to a few select private clinics constitutes “privatization”.

You’re seeing a lot of controversy about the introduction of “private health care” into the Canadian system. But you can all relax, because it’s not actually private health care. It’s still public health care, but just the worst possible version of it.

In Canada, it’s illegal to buy insurance for anything covered under the public system. Nobody else does this. In The Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K. you can pony up a few thousand dollars each year in private insurance and — if you need stitches — you can either go to the public hospital or use your insurance to get it done privately at an entirely different health care system over here.

That’s private health care.

“You’re Next”

Basic Dictatorship Freespeechers Great Moments In Socialism Great Reset 20 Comments

Doomberg;

Whatever your thoughts on Nigel Farage may be, his substantial impact on British politics is undeniable. Known as a prominent Eurosceptic since the early 1990s, he is widely credited with being the main political force behind the Brexit movement that culminated in the UK’s historic vote to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016. As charismatic as he is controversial, Farage has long been a particularly effective thorn in the side of the British political establishment. Call him what you will, but with more than half of British voters siding with him in that historic referendum, he is anything but a member of a “fringe minority” with “unacceptable views.”

[…]

In an unsettling six-minute video posted to Twitter last week, Farage broke his silence on what he claims has been a months-long campaign on the part of the British banking system to make him a financial “unperson.” Without explanation, his longtime banking partner abruptly informed him they would close all his accounts, and no other bank seems willing to accept his business.

h/t Don B

Maxing out the credit card

entitlement generation Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing 6 Comments

This is like an arsonist drawing attention to an increase in the number of fires in his neighborhood. It’s not really the case that everyone saved more during the pandemic, but rather that they borrowed more and felt wealthier because of it. This was particularly true of nearly every level of government. Nonetheless, I fully expect that the magic of infinite amortization will solve the problem of debt default going forward, right?

A former Bank of Canada economist says the trend of rising household insolvencies could spell trouble for the broader economy down the line.

Insolvencies dropped during the pandemic as people saved money, but Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist with Alberta Central, told BNN Bloomberg that the trend is now being “reversed completely,” with insolvencies up compared with 2019 – and the rise has been much faster than expected.

 

That sinking feeling

Great Reset It's Probably Nothing 11 Comments

While the broader real estate market may not be showing much pricing stress yet, one sub-market appears to be filling up with bargains. After interest rates collapsed to zero and the pandemic convinced many Canadians that a cabin at the lake was the ticket, the marginal cottage owner seems to be throwing in the towel as mortgage interest and other expenses have risen dramatically.

MISSING: summary MISSING: current-rows.
Greater Sudbury, Manitoulin & French River $698,457 $553,665 −21%
Haliburton $869,756 $643,549 −26%
Kenora and Lake-of-the-Woods $852,857 $341,700 −60%
Lake Simcoe $1,700,000 $1,800,000 6%
Muskoka $978,950 $841,887 −14%
Peterborough and the Kawarthas $1,243,442 $855,858 −31%
Rideau Lakes $989,718 $939,950 −5%
Southern Georgian Bay $1,069,105 $870,899 −19%
Windsor-Essex $699,551 $541,356 −23%

Going for broke

entitlement generation Great Reset It's Probably Nothing 3 Comments

We’re now approaching the point where the bill for all the pandemic Keynesian stimulus is coming due, and the marginal consumer is having a tough time paying it.

Insolvencies, which include bankruptcies and proposals to renegotiate loans, rose 12.3 per cent in May from April and are up 30.9 per cent from the same time last year on an adjusted basis, according to data from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. They are now at their highest level since the start of the pandemic…

 

Ice cream proletarians

Climate Cult Cronies 19 Comments

I’ve never had a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream treat yet, and after seeing the Canadian branch’s deep dive into Marxism-Leninism and various other woke causes, I won’t be doing so any time soon. Have these guys not learned anything from the Bud Light experience?

Mining, drilling, and logging corporations have been exploiting Indigenous communities for generations. Enabled by the government and unjust laws, they steal land, extract resources, and leave behind polluted water, ruined landscapes, and scarred communities.

When Indigenous activists and community leaders stand up and protest, companies regularly bring in police to silence them and even force them from their own land. In fact, a secretive special unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was created in British Columbia with the sole purpose of suppressing protests.

 

Too little, too late

Great Reset It's Probably Nothing 26 Comments

Locking the barn door after the horse is gone is a feature, not a bug, of centrally planned systems. But back when interest rates were falling to zero, anyone in authority who squawked about potential problems with variable rate mortgages would have been promptly told to shut their pie hole.

Peter Routledge, the head of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), said that borrowers with mortgages in which payments are not high enough to cover the interest portion of the loan could experience a “shock” in significantly higher payments in the years ahead.

He added that coming measures to tighten the country’s residential mortgage underwriting rules will aim to curb the tendency to lean on those types of loans in tough times.

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